Newborns for dummies?

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 6:52 am

I need some tips. Stat.

My shmoosh face is 2 and a half months. He's not the easiest baby in the world, lemme tell ya. He cries like all the time, and only falls asleep when I hold him. The second I put him down, he wakes up and screams all over again. The poor guy can go forever being so tired, red rimmed, puffy eyes, but he will not go to sleep unless I hold him. When he wakes up in middle of the night, he'll just shriek. He isn't interested in nursing or pacifiers- just screaming until I hold him and rock him back to sleep. He just doesn't know how to fall asleep by himself, and it's getting really difficult. I know he's just a newborn, but I really dont have energy for this. Plus, I dont want this to become a bad habit.

This is my second kiddo. My first was an absolute dreeeaaammm. I never had to deal with this, so I kinda feel like a new mom all over again!

I went off of dairy, which helps so much, b"H! Also, he's super scheduled, and he wont nurse unless it's meal time (how cute?). So I can't even try to stuff him up more during the day. I also try a sound machine, swaddle, and I put one of my shirts into his bassinet for the smell. No difference.

Any helpful tips?

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:02 am

amother [ Ivory ] wrote:

Sounds like colic

I've given him mylicon. Barely any difference.
When he's up and not tired, he's happy and smiley and talkative and hangs out in the bouncer doing his own thing. It's only when he's tired that he's really difficult.

amother

Ivory

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:04 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Are you making sure he doesn’t have more than 1.5-2 hours of wake time? You need to make sure he doesn’t get overtired by being ahead of the curb

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:06 am

amother [ Pumpkin ] wrote:

My kids like that had definite food sensitivities. Some had actual allergies. Allergy testing was very accurate and once I went off those foods they become normal babies.

That's so cool I didnt know you can do it on such tiny babies!
My diet isn't very big- I stick with pizza and pasta mostly. I've obviously cut that out since going off of dairy. Now all I eat is rice cakes+tuna, oatmeal, chicken cutlets or salmon without much on them, and tons of cookies. I'm gonna starve if I cut much else out!

amother

Pumpkin

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:06 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

.
You wrote that he cries all the time...?

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:08 am

amother [ Ivory ] wrote:

Are you making sure he doesn’t have more than 1.5-2 hours of wake time? You need to make sure he doesn’t get overtired by being ahead of the curb

Yes he has an excellent schedule! He has a monster 3 hour nap from 11-2, and a nice 2 hour nap from 5-7. The rest of the time he cat-naps, and he's never up for more than an hour, he and half max.

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:09 am

amother [ Pumpkin ] wrote:

.
You wrote that he cries all the time...?

I meant when he's tired. Like if I'm driving somewhere he will not fall asleep in the car, he'll just scream the entire time, no matter how long the drive is.

amother

Saddlebrown

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:10 am

OP, it sounds like your baby is sleeping fine and behaving fine but just cries when he wants to be put to sleep??
Babies need to be held and you should rock him to sleep. A newborn isn't supposed to put himself to sleep.

amother

Pumpkin

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:12 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I meant when he's tired. Like if I'm driving somewhere he will not fall asleep in the car, he'll just scream the entire time, no matter how long the drive is.

So the only issue is with falling asleep? That's not unusual at this age. Most two month olds need to be rocked to sleep. You need to start as soon as you think they may be tired, and figure out what position they prefer to be held and to sleep. All of my kids slept on their tummies at that age. Every single one of my kids screamed bloody murder in the car at that age.

amother

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:26 am

Yes for the most part it's when putting him to sleep.
Thanks for letting me know it's normal! He also wakes up in middle of the night and doesnt know how to fall back asleep by himself, and he doesnt want to be nursed. Hell nurse like 1 or 2 times a night, but hell wake up every hour and a half. It's exhausting! Is that also normal?? How do I fix it? Or at least minimize the number of times he wakes up?

He often also wakes up as soon as I put him down and screams his little lungs out.

amother

Saddlebrown

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 8:34 am

If he wakes up as soon as you put him down, how does he take 2 & 3 hour naps.
It's normal for babies to want to be rocked to sleep & it's normal at this age to not sleep through the night. Be sure he's in a deep sleep before you put him down so he shouldn't wake up right away.

amother

Mauve

Tue, Nov 26 2019, 9:05 am

Really normal for this age, in my experience at least. Neither of my two kids just “fell asleep.” If they were tired they needed constant rocking and shushing, sometimes for ages, until they fell deeply asleep. I don’t know an alternative. I would be careful to follow wake times - 1-1.5 hrs at this age, use white noise, dark rooms, and have a bedtime routine. Sleep train as soon as he is old enough if this continues (which it did for me).